Goalies to watch right now

Therer's never been a cooler time to be wear the number 1 jersey

Remember the days when you and the guys would head to the field or street for a game of football and it was only the worst player on the field, a girl or your fat cousin who was forced to man the posts?

Mainstream football had that phase too. Remember the unpredictable René Higuita? But if 2014 has taught us anything, it’s that keepers are cool. While shot stoppers like Manuel Neuer and David De Gea are running away with plaudits for their performances with Bayern Munich and Manchester United respectively, Everton’s king of the posts Tim Howard had a hipster beard so cool, it got its own Twitter account.

Here are five other goalies to watch:

Fraser Forster

He’s the keeper Team England deserves, but not the one it needs right now – at least that’s what England manager Roy Hodgson seems to think. Currently part of an overachieving Southampton team trying for a Champions League spot, Forster’s 6-foot-7 frame makes him one of the most imposing keepers in European football. Present England keeper Joe Hart is good but far too error-prone. It’s time to shake things up a bit.

Jan Šeda

We’ll be honest, we’d never even heard of the Czech keeper before he was signed up for Goa in the Indian Super League (ISL). Not only is the 29-year-old capable of pulling saves that’d make younger and more experienced keepers look like schmucks, he can also start attacks with quick release throws. We’ve been so infatuated with him, we tried looking for him on FIFA 15, but EA doesn’t update their servers enough.

Jak Alnwick

This kid’s got cojones. A little before his Premier League club, Newcastle, went through their goalkeeper crisis, the 21-year-old stormed into manager Alan Pardew’s office and gave his boss an earful about how disappointed he was at not getting game time. Then when Newcastle’s injuries struck, the young lad stepped in and kept Chelsea, the Premier League’s most lethal attack, at bay. Sure he got ripped apart by Arsenal the following week, but that’s football. Besides the kid’s got sartorial game too. Maintaining that coiffure and facial hair is a b*tch.

Rehenesh T.P

The 21-year-old’s first outing with ISL club North East United FC was a catalogue of errors, but kudos to manager Ricki Herbert for sticking with the young Keralite. Over the course of the ISL, we learnt that Subrata Pal may be India’s current keeper, but the future belongs to Rehenesh. Only 5-foot-8, the shot stopper is not imposing at all, but like all great players in the sport he relies on reading the game and, of course, his reflexes.

Ben Hamer

Leicester City’s stand-in keeper Ben Hamer played only his second game against Manchester City this past weekend but the former Charlton keeper looked like a seasoned veteran the way he held himself in that game. To be fair, the entire team plays exceptionally well and deserved to win, but City ultimately pulled away with Frank Lampard. Even so the 27-year-old has not looked out of place at all and is already making a case for his manager, Nigel Pearson, to give him a nod over first-choice Kasper Scheichel.